tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73646566351481468152017-09-18T16:50:00.104-04:00COSI 'Open' Religious TechnologyCollaboration, &#39;Open&#39; Solutions, and Innovation (COSI) for Religious Organizations &amp; IndividualsPeter Groennoreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-65570801916844380192015-03-09T22:53:00.003-04:002015-04-12T11:36:56.406-04:00Last COSI 'Open' Religious Technology & Tools Blog After 5 years, this is the last COSI 'Open' Religious Technology & Tools
blog. We will, however, continue to maintain the associated COSI 'Open'
Religious Technology & Tools web site. We thank the thousands of visitors that took the
time to visit the site and read our blogs over the years.
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For well over
10-15 Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-39697631673295558262014-09-12T22:54:00.003-04:002014-09-12T22:54:57.565-04:00Understanding 'Open' Terminology
Having
heard so many people using the terms “open systems”, “open computing”,
and “open source” interchangeably, believing they all mean the same
thing, it seemed appropriate to write a short blog defining some of
these terms and soliciting input on other ‘open’ terminology.
In general, the term “Open” often refers to initiatives whose inner
workings are exposed to the public and Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-29418403731787207672014-05-25T09:33:00.000-04:002014-05-25T09:34:45.252-04:00It's Easy! It's Time! Go ahead and install Linux on your old XP PC
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I finally started broke down and bought
a new laptop to replace my old one at home that still runs Microsoft XP. I
started using Windows 8.1 and was not pleased. So many unwanted
features that keep disrupting my use of the computer. I guess it will
just take time to adjust, but...
As a result, I decided to install Linux
Mint on my old XP laptopPeter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-367175401514541812014-04-03T22:48:00.002-04:002014-04-03T23:24:06.581-04:008th Annual Future of Open Source Survey - 2014
Black Duck Software and North Bridge Venture Partners just announced the results of
their annual Future of Open Source Survey for 2014. A record-breaking 1,240
industry influencers took part in this year’s survey.
This year’s
results point toward the increased strategic role that open source software (OSS)
has in today’s enterprises, the crucial function OSS plays in developing new
Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-27496574659306620142014-01-08T10:02:00.001-05:002014-01-12T10:27:03.743-05:00Time to make the jump from Microsoft XP to Linux?
If you're running Microsoft XP on your personal computer (PC), after
April 8, 2014 you are apparently on your own. Actually you and 1/3 of
all the PC owners in the world still running XP are on your own. So you
have a lot of company. See Infographic.
It
is reasonable to speculate that soon after support is withdrawn, many
new hacker attacks and distribution of malware will start to occur.Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-39207179290647113962013-12-29T11:07:00.002-05:002013-12-29T11:09:33.848-05:00Guidance needed as the Internet of Things (IoT) morphs into the Internet of Everything (IoE)
The numbers are staggering. Gartner predicts that the total economic value add for the Internet of Things (IoT)will be $1.9 trillion dollars in 2020, spread across all industries – especially in healthcare. McKinsey Global Institute pegs the potential economic impact at $2.7 trillion to $6.2 trillion by 2025. IDC put the Internet of Things technology and services spending at $4.8 trillion in Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-63803408625521032013-10-13T11:31:00.002-04:002013-10-13T11:59:53.496-04:00Commentary on Congress and the U.S. Government Shutdown
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Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-45852411459965203222013-08-15T12:07:00.003-04:002013-08-15T12:10:25.316-04:00Further Defining 'Free' and/or 'Open Source' Software
The battle continues over the correct definitions of 'Free' and/or
'Open Source' Software (FOSS). For many readers who don't follow this
issue closely, it's time to take another look at the subject.
According to the GNU organization and the Free Software Foundation (FSF), 'Free' Software is not about price – it's about liberty and freedom..
'Free' Software
means that the software's users Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-91243287204526078952013-04-22T08:49:00.000-04:002013-04-22T08:49:08.314-04:00Observations on the latest 'Future of Open Source Survey'
A major theme running through this year's Future of Open Source Survey is that 'Open Source is Eating the Software World's Lunch.' The survey data shows that the 'Open Revolution'
is having a major impact on both the public and private sectors. This
year's survey also showed that more and more vendors are now providing
formal commercial vendor support for many of the best open source
Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-75629413903858486532013-03-31T12:13:00.004-04:002013-03-31T14:19:10.037-04:00Churches Migrating to use of LibreOffice software
The Document
Foundation just released a white paper to help individuals and organizations
migrate to use of LibreOffice - a high
quality, free and open source personal productivity and office software suite.
This is an alternative many religious organizations and their members ought to seriously consider using. See Migrating
to LibreOffice to promote software and document freedom.
Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-49026657257435220542013-03-24T09:09:00.001-04:002013-03-24T10:19:24.410-04:00Free Documentary & Tools on being 'Spiritually Green'
Dr. Joel C. Hunter, senior pastor of the 15,000-member Northland church in Florida, has released a new documentary titled "Our Father's World,"
where he reminds us that God made people stewards, not owners
of the planet, and that environmental issues are Christian issues.
According to Pastor Hunter, "Scientific
evidence now is very much backing up the Scriptural mandate that we
need to takePeter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-75975438265990932302013-03-17T12:18:00.002-04:002013-03-24T09:28:25.429-04:00The Global 'Open Movement' Continues to Grow
The open source movement that started several decades ago has slowly
morphed into something much bigger - a comprehensive global 'Open
Movement'. The movement now encompasses open source, open access, open
data, open standards, open hardware, as well as open business models,
open government, open leadership, and much more.
This huge social
movement has begun to have a major impact on Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-43913018872749978292013-03-10T16:43:00.004-04:002013-03-10T16:52:05.135-04:00Science & Religion 'Openly' Discussing and Sharing Information about Near Death Experiences
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Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-12262726632370492282012-12-30T11:51:00.000-05:002012-12-30T11:51:03.157-05:00Using Skype and Other Free Tools in Your Ministry
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Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-56060262404660517612012-10-11T22:49:00.001-04:002012-10-12T07:59:48.623-04:00Learning About & Embracing New Computer Technology
Time is passing and I am trying to keep pace with the ever
changing field of computer technology. Nowadays, my trusty desktop computer sits quietly in an out of the way corner of my
house functioning primarily as a backup system and LAN server – providing access
to shared files and my printer.
My laptop computer
is now the workhorse for my 'home' office – I work out of my house on a small
Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-90356621618940756162012-08-12T11:25:00.005-04:002016-01-11T10:55:44.028-05:00The Good, the Bad, and the Foolish - Words of Wisdom for our Leaders
Introduction
We are seeing a
growing number of managers and leaders, in the public and private sector who just
don't seem to be able to clearly distinguish between what is good, bad, or
foolish behavior. The following are selected verses and words of wisdom from
the Bible on leadership, righteous behavior, 'best practices', and 'lessons
learned' from across the past several millennium. TakePeter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-72776553162880168632012-06-24T11:38:00.003-04:002012-06-24T11:44:55.898-04:00Open Source & Christianity: They just seem to go together
This idea has been gnawing at my mind for a while. To me, Christianity
and 'open source' simply seem to go together. Let me try to briefly explain why.
In a nutshell, open
source involves collaborating on the development of software solutions to
meet real needs, then freely sharing the solution with the world.
Similarly, Christian organizations or churches involve
people gathering Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-91614168954269843392012-05-20T10:43:00.001-04:002012-05-20T10:44:22.784-04:00Growing numbers of Americans using the Internet for religious purposes
The following are excerpts from an excellent article entitled "Nearly
half of online users use Internet for religion", written by Jeff Kunerth and
published in the Orlando Sentinel, May 17, 2012.
"Almost half of all American adults who are online are
using the Internet for religious purposes, according to a new study from Grey
Matter Research in Phoenix, Ariz. The research shows a variety Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-34678576987257854122012-01-08T10:38:00.002-05:002013-03-16T10:33:31.329-04:00eMinistry & Open Source Tools
An effective eMinistry is comprised of people who are committed to leveraging the wide range of available information technologies (IT) and tools for meeting practical, daily needs of one's local church. Starting an eMinistry can be a challenge. Obstacles such as lack of understanding, vision, budget, time and technical skills are just some of the challenges that churches encounter will Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-17540232453107745152011-12-28T10:48:00.002-05:002011-12-28T10:53:27.504-05:00A Brief History of 'Open Source' Software in Modern TimesThe 'spirit' of open source was in existence many millennium before the term officially emerged toward the end of the 20th century. In 'ancient' times, our ancestors shared knowledge about hunting, farming, cooking, herbal treatments, and many other topics and skills needed to survive. In 'modern' times, collaboration and sharing has taken on a whole new meaning, especially as it relates to Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-65648884917246745842011-12-21T16:44:00.002-05:002011-12-24T08:27:43.980-05:00Proverbs on Wealth
Rather than talk about technology, in this blog I chose to simply use technology to go online and extract selected verses from the Bible on the topic of wealth, showing how technology can be quickly put to use to seek and share wisdom.
Wealth & WisdomProverbs 3: 13 Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding,
14 for she is more profitable than silver and yields better Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-60941475336994516102011-12-12T14:50:00.003-05:002011-12-12T14:56:38.011-05:00Social Media, Web Sites, & Open Source Tools for Today's Churches
The incorporation of digital technologies and effective use of the Internet into church-based ministry is an new skill set churches need to master. The Internet has become one of the pivotal communications and community-building tools of our lifetime and can be of great use to churches and their congregations in a variety of ways.
Back in 2000, just one-third of Protestant churches (34%) had a Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-17921374429598761762011-11-17T08:49:00.001-05:002011-11-17T22:52:57.472-05:00Reports & Studies on Technology and the ChurchThe importance of information technology (IT) to support church operations and missions will continue to grow. So, it behooves church leaders at all levels to study the topic in more depth and read about 'best practices' and 'lessons learned' from others. The following are links to selected studies, reports, articles or white papers on innovative 'open' information technology and tools for Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-77026707938902703372011-10-09T11:34:00.018-04:002011-10-22T23:18:03.773-04:00Healing Ministries & 'Open' Health IT SystemsIntroduction
As shown in the table below, healing is one of the central themes of the gospels presented in the New Testament of the Bible. During his ministry, Jesus healed lepers, blind men, the lame, a hemorrhaging woman, the demon-possessed, and even raised the dead.In the book of Acts, Jesus involved his disciples in the work of healing. That book contains a number of accounts of healing by Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364656635148146815.post-7234682147608714652011-09-05T12:30:00.001-04:002011-09-05T12:32:15.882-04:00Religious eGames & Mobile AppsWe are seeing the emergence of Religious eGames & Mobile Apps as part of the innovative fifth generation of multi-media computer interfaces for people to use in obtaining information and interacting with the fellow believers, their church, the Bible, and more. Examples of the many multi-media Religious eGames & Mobile Apps that are emerging can be found on the COSI Open Religious Technology web Peter Groenhttps://plus.google.com/117672533214092706062noreply@blogger.com0